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“Well you’re welcome. And I have you to thank for the sunset catamaran cruise, so I guess we’re even,” she replies with a smirk.
“Cheers to that,” I say, raising my glass and Jada does the same.
“Okay so massages, couples yoga and sunset catamaran cruises, huh?” chimes in Heidi. “That’s a lot.”
“Oh, that was just the first day!” Jada says. “We also went horseback riding!”
“Jada is the cutest horse-rider,” I chime in and I can’t help but smile thinking of Jada’s excitement that day. “She wouldn’t stop talking to her horse. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more excited about a trail ride either.”
I’m not looking at Heidi when I say this, though. I’m looking at Jada with a grin.
“First of all, his name is Charlie,” she tells me in mock defense. “And second of all, he was a wonderful conversationalist.”
“Oh, well then,” I reply. “That changes everything. I didn’t get the chance to have a chat with him.”
“You missed out,” she jokes. “He had some very interesting things to say about the economy, though he seemed a bit depressed about it. I guess that’s why he had such a long face.” We both break into peals of laughter, and it takes us a good long while to recover.
I love how easily we laugh together and soon we’re chuckling over the dance lessons, too.
“The guy just kept telling us we were so connected,” Jada says, shaking her head. “He was super into watching us dance, even though we were probably terrible.”
“No way, we were amazing,” I insist. “He was just watching art unfold.”
At this, we laugh again.
“Sounds like a pretty intense couple of days,” Heidi muses after we’ve regaled her.
“Yup, intense and incredible,” Jada replies without missing a beat.
Heidi still has a weird look in her eyes, and when Jada excuses herself to go to the bathroom, she glances after her for a second before turning to me.
“Hey, I don’t mean to meddle or anything, but please be careful,” she tells me seriously.
“Careful? About what?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“I’ve seen my fair share of fake marriages in this place – believe me, they happen more often than you’d think,” she tells me. “But I’ve also seen a lot of those fake marriages leading to real feelings. If that’s what’s happening here, I just want to warn you. Sometimes people get hurt.”
She arches an eyebrow at me, but I brush it off.
“Don’t worry, that’s not what’s happening,” I tell her, almost scoffing at the suggestion. “I mean, we’re having fun, but we’re just friends. Just really good friends who are helping each other out and having a good time in the process.”
I can hear how the words sound. Even to me it’s not exactly convincing.
“If you say so,” Heidi tells me, raising both her eyebrows this time.
She says nothing more, though. Instead, she leaves me to stew in my own thoughts while she goes to serve another customer. The more I sit there, staring at the beer and nachos on the counter, the more I wonder if there’s some truth to her words.
Have I just been fooling myself this whole time? Is there something happening with Jada that I’ve been ignoring? I start to play through the last two months with her, and especially the last few days, and I see there are definitely things I’ve been intentionally avoiding thinking too hard about.
The thrill I get when I hold her hand. The kiss she gave me unprompted in bed. The endless laughter and unexpected connection.
Am I in love with Jada?I suddenly wonder, and the thought isn’t an unpleasant one.
I roll the question around in my mind like I would take a sip of whiskey over my tongue, letting my mind savor its complexity. There’s definitely some depth there, some unexpected overtones and rich undertones. I can imagine drinking a little more of that notion.
A moment later, I see Jada weaving through the crowd toward me and without even thinking, I break out into a huge smile. I can’t help it. Jada just does that to me.
Doesn’t exactly help refute Heidi’s concern, though.
